Right/Left/Wrong

There is this subject on the magazine I often read on coming out, living as a homosexual child and being parents of homosexual children in our country and culture. The columnists chose the name "Con rẽ trái mẹ nhé!" for the whole subject. And that made me think of the differences between Vietnamese and Western cultures, or Eastern and Western cultures in common.

In English, when we speak of direction in common we have "right" and "left". When we speak of the rightness we have "right" and "wrong". As I've assumed "right" in the direction might come from the choice that was made by many people else while "left" gained the meaning of "what is left behind". However, "left" does not have the meaning of "wrong", it's just simple "not a usual thing". So, as I've assume, in Western culture, difference does not have the meaning of wrong.

In Vietnamese, we have "phải" and "trái". "Phải" means right for both the direction and rightness. And (funny enough) "trái" is the homonym for both "left" and "wrong" in Vietnamese. So, somehow, in the begining of our culture, we've assumed that "what is unsual, uncommon is also wrong". And in this case, somehow the whole sentence "Con rẽ trái mẹ nhé!" with the good meaning of "I turn left, mom!" can easily be changed into "I turn wrong, mom!"

Oh, think that I've fucked up with the whole problem again. I don't know if I can make you understand what I'm thinking or not. Thus, ask me for more in case you don't. You're very welcome in this talk.